Help! Baby is on nursing strike/weaning

My 9 month old has never been a great nurser (latch issues @ birth plus my milk was slow to come in after c-section) but good enough to get by and for her to be healthy, happy & continually growing along the same trajectory. It has been my goal to nurse her to at least 12 months if not 16 or 18 to get her through her first cold & flu season.

Over the last three days she has stopped nursing all together after gradually becoming uninterested. When I asked our pediatrician about this the answer was "Still offer her the breast but just give her a bottle when she doesn't nurse well". I've not been able to pump for months (my pump is just not cutting it any more) so that means giving her formula (which the pediatrician said I can give to her in a sippy cup but that doesn't seem to support BFing to me). To top it off my milk has begun to taste salty. I'm not pregnant and I don't have mastitis so from everything I have read, it's "weaning milk". Baby doens't like the salty taste and that helps wean them.

While she is teething (cutting one on either side of the two she already has on top) she is still healthy & happy and the teeth don't seem to bother her, she is just more interested in playing & rolling around on the bed instead of nursing. She completely refuses the nipple, most times just ignoring it or rolling away, yet happy to take a bottle of formula when it is presented to her. If I try to push the breast on her she just ends up in a hysterical crying fit flinging herself backwards. This wears on both of us =^(

I am trying everything I can think of: offering her the breast more or less often, trying nursing in other places/positions, hand expressing on her lips to get her started, doing things to keep my supply up and salty taste down like eating oatmeal, drinking mother's milk tea, drinking lots of water, taking iron, taking prenatal vitamins, hand expressing after she nurses...or doesn't nurse...

I'm not ready to give up but being a first time mom I have no idea if I am trying/doing the right things! Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Comments (3)

Sounds like you have tried nearly everything. When my lo was on a nursing strike the only thing I did that worked was walk laps around my house while nursing. For some reason he would stay latched and eat if I walked. A pain in the ass, but it helped! Good luck!

I think she's done nursing.... ESP if your milk is salty! That's ok, don't beat yourself up!! To make it to 9mo is awesome & just think, you'll have a lot more free time! I think it's harder on us than it is for the babies- it just means their growing up!